VII: 9

Chapter 7, Verse 9

"I am the fragrance in the earth,
The brilliance in fire,
The Life in the living,
And the austerity in those
Who are masters of themselves."

Sri Eknath Easwaran:

At the onset of the monsoon in India, the ground is parched by the burning Sun.  It isn't just the villager with his rice field who waits almost breathlessly for rain.  The food supply of all of India depends upon the monsoon.  All wait for the dark clouds to gather on the horizon.  As the time nears, no matter what you are doing, you have one ear cocked for that first, sweet clap of thunder proclaiming the advent of the rains.  You can almost hear the ground panting for water.  There is no fragrance so satisfying as Mother Earth's when the clouds finally break.  It delights the senses and soothes the Spirit.

Krishna tells us in simple language that all of life is sacred.  "I am the Life in the living," he tells Arjuna.  When I take my morning walk and see the quail scurrying this way and that, I see them as quail with my intellect.  With the little bit of spiritual awareness that has come to me from the teachings of my Grandmother, I perceive that the power that makes them hunt and peck is the power of the Lord.  Their very Life is the divine energy that moves us all.

Tapas and Tejas are the heat and brilliance within and without.  The inner fire corresponds with the immense source of energy callled Kundalini.  Every person has vast stores of this energy, but few know how to harness it.  Living for yourself precludes access to Kundalini.  When, through the power of regular Sadhana and the allied disciplines, you turn our selfish goals into a higher aspiration, Kundalini gets marshalled and released.

It is not easy to turn your back on a selfish desire.  It can be painful.  Painful effort is austerity.  It is a source of consolation to understand that whenever you resist a self-centered desire for the sake of the Whole, the Lord whispers in your heart of hearts, "I am your effort.  I am your pain.  I come to life in your will."